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Coding as a “foreign language”, and other news

Every time I try to do something big, I swear the Universe decides to test my resolve by throwing obstacles in the way! Today I could just bang my head against a wall for a while. Instead, here’s some random newsy news.

Foreign language is a silly requirement that needs to be replaced. No one who takes two years of Spanish can actually carry on a conversation with someone from Mexico (other than a small child, maybe). With two years of coding experience, though, some skills would stick in useful ways.

For example, I took one semester (half a year) of web design and one year of QBASIC programming. The QBASIC came first, and the class (while mostly forgotten in the decade since that time) taught me programming logic; that logic applies to almost every system I encounter, allowing me to adapt to new data entry systems and search programs with ease. The web design class opened me more to the internet at large; instead of seeing websites as bigger than life creations, I realized that anyone could have a voice online.

Overall, programming for less than two years in school led me to become a more well-rounded individual, as well as assisting me in our digital age with being as flexible and adaptable as possible. More kids would benefit from the same experience. NOTE: I took three years of Spanish, and I still can barely speak with a stranger in the language; you can’t learn a language with true fluency in just a few years, unless you move to a country with it as their native tongue.

Texas health care is a sad joke without a punch line. Poor women are “covered” under the Women’s Health Program, which offers a list of around 200 providers (only a dozen of which are taking WHP patients). Those of us in the bottom 25-50% of the income ladder are lucky to have jobs that provide insurance; if you don’t get it at work, you’re fucked. The ACA could push toward a solution, but in a state run by an asshat like Rick Perry… hope is a long-dead horse.

It’s funny… I don’t see a problem with this. Sure, hackers have access to the personal information of government employees; welcome to the New America, where the NSA is only mad that Anonymous beat them to the punch. However, when the only way we learn what our government is *actually* doing is by cyber spies, I feel little compassion for those affected by the espionage on my behalf.

Humans are a blight on this planet. Nothing is safe. In America, we pretend wolves have recovered their way from endangered to healthy populations, only to hunt them rapidly back down to dangerously low levels. We, as a species, don’t know how to stop. It’s actually articles like this that remind me I haven’t always been human; I find myself stepping away from my current form and the shame that comes with not doing anything to save them (wolves, lions, or any other animals).